In May 1945, Italy was liberated from Nazism and Fascism by the British Eighth and American Fifth armies; by that time the Italian resistance movement, aided and abetted by the UK's Special Operations Executive (SOE), had emerged as one of the strongest in Europe. While clandestine cells in the cities and partisan bands in the countryside fought to free their country from enemy occupation, the SOE launched dozens of missions, parachuting in weapons and ammunition, food, and supplies. Based on recently released official files, documents retrieved from other agencies, diaries, memoirs, and personal interviews, this book provides the definitive account of Britain's secret war in Italy.